The Secret To Colder Beer, Faster

Though summer's almost over, the desire for cold beer never ends. Cooling your beer fast is not a myth (hallelujah) but an attainable reality.

Photograph by Taylor Lord

So, if you don't have a cold river or snow near by (that's the old-fashioned, foolproof way) get a bowl and fill it with 1 litre of water, 3 cups ice and 3-4 tbsp salt. Place one can (or bottle) into the bowl and stir it slowly around for 2 or more minutes to drop the temperature quickly. The secret behind this? By putting salt into the ice water, the water temperature drop lower then it would normally - The salt allows water to exist as a liquid at a temperature lower than 0°C. Stirring slowly allows the content of your can to move and rotate, exposing more beer to the cold edge of the container.

You can also use this method in your cooler for the same reason; The ice will cool the water down and the salt will allow the water temperature to drop below 0°C. The beer will then be fully submersed in sub-zero water maximizing the surface area in contact, getting beer colder faster and keeping the cold for longer.